Blair to step down（下台） before Sept 2007

Nidhi Razdan
Thursday, September 7, 2006 (London/New Delhi):What was widely speculated（推测）is now confirmed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair himself. He said he will resign（辞职）within a year. Faced with a revolt（反抗）from his own Labour Party（工党）, Blair was forced to announce that he will resign as Prime Minister within the next year.

The man widely expected to take over is Finance Minister Gordon Brown. The date of Blair's departure,（离开）though not announced, is expected to be next May after he completes 10 years in power.

The opposition to Blair was building up for some time. With the war in Iraq began his downslide（下跌）, costing him public support in Britain.

And even though the Labour Party won a record third consecutive （连续的） term last year, they lost 47 seats. The crisis deepened on Wednesday when eight government aides quit demanding he step down.

Strong contention（争论）
Watching the drama from the sidelines is Britain's opposition Conservative Party（保守党） whose leader David Cameron was on a visit to India.

In fact, a poll（民意测验）conducted in the UK says that if a general election（大选）were held today, then Cameron would become Prime Minister.

Now the question is, whether the transition from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown will be smooth.

Right now, that's hard to say. It's no secret that the two men don't get along. Reports say they had an acrimonious（激烈） meeting on Wednesday. One MP even compared the infighting to the American gangster TV show The Sopranos.